Furniture foot with ball joint and felt pad

ABSTRACT

A furniture foot comprises (a) a furniture foot connector; (b) a foot base having a molded portion; (c) a ball joint connecting the furniture foot connector to the foot base; and (d) a felt pad co-molded with the molded portion of the foot base, such that the felt pad protrudes away from the foot base.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to furniture and, more specifically, to furniture feet used to support items of furniture above a floor or other horizontal surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Items of furniture are very often supported above the floor by a plurality of support legs, with a foot attached at the lowermost end of each such support leg. Typically, each foot is made from a rubber, plastic or similar material designed to minimize damage to the floor and to minimize the propensity of the item of furniture to skid along the floor.

Most such feet comprise a foot pad having a lower planar surface surrounded by a foot pad perimeter. To minimize damage caused to the floor and to minimize the propensity of the item of furniture to skid along the floor, it is important that the lower foot pad surface be disposed flat against the floor, rather than having only an edge disposed in contact with the floor. When an item of furniture is supported solely by the edge of the foot pad on one of its support leg feet, the pressure forces created against the floor along that edge can cause damage to the floor. Moreover, where an item of furniture is supported solely by an edge on one of its feet, the lack of surface contact between the floor and that foot pad allow the foot to be easily skidded along the floor.

Manufacturing furniture such that the foot pads of the feet supporting the furniture are always disposed flat against the floor is not easily accomplished. This is especially the case where the furniture is to be placed on a floor with an uneven surface. Because most floors are not perfectly flat, even an absolutely level foot pad can cause damage by contacting the non-level portions of a floor.

Manufacturing furniture such that the foot pads of the feet supporting the furniture are always disposed flat against the floor is also especially a problem where the legs are downwardly disposed at an angle with respect to the vertical, such as in many tables and chairs. In such items of furniture, manufacturers find it difficult to assure that the foot pads on each of the furniture legs rests flat against the floor, because in the manufacturing process it is difficult to assure that the angle of the support legs does not vary from item to item.

Some furniture manufacturers have used foot pads having a ball joint. Such foot pads are generally successful in assuring that the foot pad rests flat against the floor. However, such foot pads have not been found to substantially decrease damage to a floor caused by the skidding of the furniture along the floor.

Other furniture manufacturers have manufactured foot pads with felt bottoms. Such foot pads have been found to reduce damage to floors caused by skidding of the furniture along the floor, but do not address the problem of assuring that the foot pad rests flat against the floor. Also, many such furniture manufacturers attempt to attach felt to the bottom of foot pads using adhesives. Such attachment methods have been found to be prone to failure.

A few furniture manufacturers have manufactured foot pads with felt bottoms wherein the felt bottoms are co-molded to a molded “cup,” which is then installed over the foot base. This method is also prone to failure in that the molded cup frequently disengages from the foot base. Also, the use of a molded cup necessarily increases the diameter of the foot base, which frequently interferes with the ability to stack the chair with identical chairs.

The problems associated with trying to ensure that the foot pads of furniture support feet are disposed flat against a floor is a considerable problem where the item of furniture is a chair having sled-type legs. Such sled legs have a downwardly directed portion and a laterally directed, lowermost portion. The downwardly directed portion is attached to the laterally directed, lowermost portion at an elbow. The laterally directed, lowermost portion is disposed horizontally proximate to a floor surface. Feet for each sled leg usually comprises a pair of feet, one attached at the elbow of the sled leg and one attached to the terminal of the laterally directed, lowermost portion. Typically, such sled legs are splayed outwardly from the seating surface towards the floor. Such disposition of the sled legs makes it exceedingly difficult to provide feet for the sled legs which consistently are disposed flat against the surface of the floor.

Accordingly, there is a need for an improved furniture leg foot which minimizes the above-described problems in the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention satisfies this need. The invention is a furniture foot comprising (a) a furniture foot connector; (b) a foot base having a molded portion; (c) a ball joint connecting the furniture foot connector to the foot base; and (d) a felt pad co-molded with the molded portion of the foot base, such that the felt pad protrudes away from the foot base.

DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 is a prospective view of a chair having features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the chair illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a second prospective view of the chair illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a detailed cross-sectional view of a first furniture foot having features of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of a second furniture foot having features of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the furniture foot illustrated in FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention and several variations of that embodiment. This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well.

The invention is a furniture foot 10 comprising a furniture foot connector 12, a foot base 14, a ball joint 16 connecting the furniture foot connector 12 to the foot base 14 and a felt pad 18 disposed on the foot base 14.

FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a chair 22 having furniture feet 10 of the invention. FIGS. 4-6 illustrate three different embodiments of a furniture foot 10 of the invention,

The furniture foot connector 12 is typically made from a metal and is adapted to connect to a leg of an item of furniture.

The foot base 14 includes a molded portion 20 which is typically a plastic material, such as nylon. Other materials, such as polypropylene and polyethylene, can also be used to form the molded portion.

The ball joint 16 is a typical ball joint 16 connector used in prior art furniture feet.

The felt pad 18 is co-molded with the molded portion 20 of the foot base 14 such that the felt pad 18 protrudes away from the foot base 14. Typically, the felt pad 18 protrudes away from the foot base 14 by a distance of between about 0.05 inches and about 0.55 inches.

It has been found that co-molding of the felt pad 18 with the molded portion 20 is important to ensuring the reliable bonding of the felt pad 18 to the foot base 14. Co-molding of the felt pad 18 with the molded portion 20 of the foot base 14 has been found to be a far more reliable means of connecting the felt pad 18 to the molded portion 20 than prior art efforts to adhere the felt pad 18 to the foot base 14 using adhesives. Because of the dissimilarities of the felt pad 18 and the molded portion 20, attempts to adhere the felt pad 18 to the molded portion 20 using adhesives leads to frequent delamination of the felt pad 18 from the molded portion 20.

It is important that the felt be of a heavy and wear-resistant grade. Preferably, the felt is an SAE grade F-1 felt, an F-2 felt or an F-3 felt.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the furniture foot 10 of the invention is particularly advantageously used in a chair 22, such as illustrated in FIGS. 1-3. The chair 22 comprises a seating surface 24 and a support structure 26 for supporting the seating surface 24 at an elevated plane. The support structure 26 comprises a pair of sled legs 28 each having a downwardly directed portion 30 and a laterally directed, lowermost portion 32. The downwardly directed portion 30 is attached to the laterally directed, lowermost portion 32 at an elbow 34. Each laterally directed, lowermost portion 32 terminates at a terminal end 36. In the embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the terminal end 36 of each laterally directed, lowermost portion 32 is disposed forward of the elbow 34.

Attached to the chair 22 are four furniture feet 10. A first chair foot is attached to the terminal end 36 of each laterally directed, lowermost portion 32 of each sled leg 28. A second furniture foot 10 is attached to the elbow 34 of each sled leg 28.

The furniture foot 10 attached to the terminal end 36 of each laterally directed lowermost portion 32 of each sled leg 28 is illustrated in detail in FIG. 4. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the furniture foot connector 12 is provided by a threaded stem 38 which is attached to an assembly nut 40 and a threaded insert 42 disposed within a plastic front glide housing 44. The front glide housing 44 is attached by press-fit over the laterally directed, lowermost portion 32 of each sled leg 28 using a retention spring 46 and a screw 48.

The second furniture foot 10 attached to the elbow 34 of each sled leg 28 is illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. In this embodiment, the furniture foot connector 12 is provided by a cylindrical cup 50 secured to a cylinder 52 on a metal bracket 54. The metal bracket 54 is typically welded to the elbow 34 of a sled leg 28 and is covered by a plastic rear glide housing 56.

Although the furniture feet 10 of the invention have been described as being adapted to support a chair 22 having sled legs 28, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the furniture feet 10 of the invention can otherwise be adapted to support other items of furniture and other styles of chairs having downwardly directed legs which terminate at a terminal end. In all such cases, the furniture feet 10 of the invention allow the foot base 14 to be maintained flat against a floor or other flat surface upon which the item of furniture is disposed.

For example, a chair foot 10 of the invention constructed for supporting furniture having three or more generally vertical cylindrical legs is easily provided by adapting the furniture foot 10 illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6. In such adaptation, the cylindrical cup 50 is sized and dimensioned to snugly fit over the distal end of a cylindrical furniture leg.

The invention provides an effective and inexpensive method of assuring that the foot pads of furniture leg feet automatically become disposed flat against a floor or other flat surface, thereby minimizing damage to the floor or surface and thereby minimizing the tendency of the item of furniture to skid along the floor or surface.

Having thus described the invention, it should be apparent that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope and fair meaning of the instant invention as set forth hereinabove. 

1.-3. (canceled)
 4. An item of furniture comprising: (a) a plurality of downwardly directed support legs; and (b) a furniture foot attached to at least one of the support legs; wherein the furniture foot comprises (i) a furniture foot connector, (ii) a foot base having a molded portion, (iii) a ball joint connecting the furniture foot connector to the foot base, and (iv) a felt pad co-molded with the molded portion of the foot base, such that the felt pad protrudes away from the foot base.
 5. The item of furniture of claim 4 wherein the felt pad is made from an SAE grade F-1 felt, F-2 felt or F-3 felt.
 6. The item of furniture of claim 4 wherein the felt pad protrudes away from the foot base by a distance of between about 0.05 inches and about 0.55 inches.
 7. The item of furniture of claim 4 wherein the item of furniture is a chair comprising a seating surface and a support structure for supporting the seating surface at an elevated plane, the support structure comprising a pair of sled legs, each having a downwardly directed portion and a laterally directed, lowermost portion, the downwardly directed portion being attached to the laterally directed, lowermost portion at an elbow, each laterally directed, lowermost portion terminating at a terminal end.
 8. The item of furniture of claim 7 wherein the terminal end of each laterally directed, lowermost portion is disposed forward of the elbow.
 9. The item of furniture of claim 7 wherein the felt pad is made from an SAE grade F-1 felt, F-2 felt or F-3 felt.
 10. The item of furniture of claim 7 wherein the felt pad protrudes away from the foot base by a distance of between about 0.05 inches and about 0.55 inches. 